Workforce Innovation and Oppor_Policy and regulations_U.S. Student Information Storage Center

Changes in the labor market

Decline in traditional occupations: A report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in the next decade, some traditional occupations will significantly decrease due to the impact of automation and artificial intelligence. The number of document processors and typists is expected to decrease by 15200, a decrease of 38%; Roof drillers and miners are expected to reduce 600 positions, a decrease of 32%; Cashiers are expected to reduce 350000 positions, etc. These low skilled and highly repetitive jobs are most easily replaced by technology.

The rise of emerging professions: At the same time, some emerging professions are experiencing rapid growth. Wind turbine service technicians have become one of the fastest-growing professions in the next decade, with an expected growth rate of 44.9%. The demand for nursing staff, healthcare service managers, epidemiologists, and other positions in the healthcare field has also significantly increased, with growth rates ranging from 26% to 44%. In addition, the demand for technology related positions such as data scientists and information security analysts continues to increase, with an expected growth rate of 35.2% for data scientists and 31.5% for information security analysts by 2033.

Related policy support

Revision of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: On December 10, 2024, the US Congress reached an agreement to revise the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). This revision expands the definition of "out of school youth" to "opportunity youth", covering groups such as homeless youth and youth within the foster care system. It also allows young people to self authenticate certain identity statuses for easier access to services. The agreement creates a youth apprenticeship reserve fund with a total amount of $65 million and provides mandatory funding support, requiring local labor development committees to allocate 40% of WIOA youth funds to work experience projects, of which 12.5% needs to be used for pre apprenticeship training and/or apprenticeship projects.

Innovation driven and high value-added employment opportunities

Innovative ecological advantages: The United States has advantages in basic research, AI research, corporate R&D investment, and industry university research integration. There are numerous Nobel laureates in the United States, and in the field of AI, according to the nationality of Turing Award winners at the time of award, 66.2% of them are from the United States. In 2022, the research and development expenditure in the United States reached 885.6 billion US dollars, with the commercial sector accounting for 78.2% of the total research and development expenditure, both ranking first in the world. In addition, the United States has the largest number of unicorn companies in the world, with 676 unicorn companies as of October 8, 2024, accounting for 54.2% of the global market share.

Advantages of Enterprise and Talent: The structure of American enterprises is a combination of modern corporate systems and family businesses, which is conducive to concentrating efforts to accomplish great things. At the same time, the US economy and business system are open and inclusive. In 2023, 224 of the top 500 companies by revenue in the US were founded by new immigrants or their descendants, and these companies have made significant contributions to the US and global economy.

challenges faced

Structural fluctuations in the job market: Federal fiscal tightening policies have triggered a structural fission in the US job market, severely impacting knowledge intensive fields. Billions of dollars in spending cuts will lead to the disappearance of core positions such as policy research and data management, as well as the collapse of auxiliary positions. At the same time, the application of AI technology has led to the replacement of white-collar positions such as legal documents and financial analysis at a rate of 2.3% per month, while the employment situation in the blue collar sector is better due to the stimulation of the "Chip Act" and infrastructure plans, and the labor market presents a situation of both ice and fire.

Difficulty in matching skill updates with employment: Only 12% of high skilled workers in the United States have received AI related training, while the job replacement rate of generative AI has reached over 3% per month during the same period. The mismatch between skill updates and technological development has led to a prominent problem of structural unemployment. In addition, the uneven geographical distribution of AI technology has exacerbated regional economic differentiation, with hourly wages for engineers on the West Coast rising, but salaries for digital departments in traditional industries in the Midwest stagnating.